Masticatory performance and oral health‐related quality of life in edentulous maxillectomy patients: A cross‐sectional study to compare implant‐supported obturators and conventional obturators

Abstract

Objective:The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare the masticatory performance and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of edentulous maxillectomy patients with and without implant-supported obturator prostheses. Material and methods:Nineteen edentulous maxillectomy patients with completed prosthetic obturator treatment in the upper jaw participated in this study. In nine patients, the obturator prosthesis was supported by implants in the remaining bone of the midface and/or skull base to improve retention. Masticatory performance was measured objectively by the mixing ability test (MAT) and subjectively by three OHRQoL questionnaires: (a) the Oral Health Impact Profile for EDENTulous people (OHIP-EDENT), (b) the Obturator Function Scale (OFS), and (c) the Dutch Liverpool Oral Rehabilitation Questionnaire version 3 (LORQv3-NL). The independent t test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to test for differences in outcomes of patients with and without implant-retention of their obturator prostheses.Results: Patients with implant-supported obturator prostheses had significantly better masticatory and oral function, reported fewer chewing difficulties, and had less discomfort during food intake than did patients with a conventional obturator. Conclusion:Supporting prosthetic obturators after maxillectomy with implants improve oral functioning, chewing, and eating comfort. This treatment modality is a viable technique to improve the functionality of prosthetic rehabilitation in patients who have undergone maxillectomy. K E Y W O R D S dental implant, mastication, maxillary defect, maxillofacial reconstruction, midfacial defect, obturator, quality of life S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Buurman DJM, Speksnijder CM, Engelen BHBT, Kessler P. Masticatory performance and oral health-related quality of life in edentulous maxillectomy patients: A cross-sectional study to compare implantsupported obturators and conventional obturators. Clin Oral

Prosthodontic rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients—Challenges and new developments

“…Placing endosseous implants in the native bone of the maxilla will allow to improve retention of the obturator prosthesis and thereby increase the success of prosthetic rehabilitation. Patients with implant‐supported obturator prostheses have significantly better masticatory and oral function, and less discomfort during food intake than patients with a conventional obturator (Buurman, Speksnijder, Engelen, & Kessler, 2020). Studies which compared prosthetic obturation with reconstruction of a palatomaxillary defect demonstrated that there are some advantages to reconstruct the defects above obturation of these defects, in particular with regard to quality‐of‐life issues such as comfort, convenience and feelings of self‐consciousness (Rogers, Lowe, McNally, Brown, & Vaughan, 2003).…”

Mastication in maxillectomy patients: A comparison between reconstructed maxillae and implant supported obturators: A cross‐sectional study

“…A recently published systematic review describes a risk of selection bias and heterogeneous measurements for studies comparing masticatory efficiency 7 . Additionally, the different methods of measuring masticatory performance: mixing ability test, colour changing chewing gum, and sieving method used in maxillectomy patients 11‐13,21,25,29,33‐36 complicate the comparison of the study results.…”

“…In the obturator group, patients with edentulous upper jaws were included when maxillary defects were rehabilitated with an implant‐supported obturator at Maastricht UMC+ 21 . Maastricht patients were treated according to the “surgical and prosthetic reconsiderations in patients with maxillectomy protocol” as defined by Lethaus et al in 2010 22 .…”

“…Patients at the University of Alberta have been included as part of the HREBA.CC‐17‐0167 study, 12 and at Maastricht UMC + as part of the METC.15‐4‐123 study 21 . For both studies medical‐ethical approval was given.…”

The OHIP-EDENT B&H Questionnaire: Translation and Psychometric Properties in Treatment of Acrylic Complete Denture Wearers

“…Oral Health Impact Pro le for Edentulous Patients (OHIP-EDENT), with a higher score meaning poor quality of life, is also used in the latest clinical studies [42][43][44][45][46][47][48] , and thus justifying the great importance of this work and our idea for translation and psychometric properties on the Bosnian language. Therefore, translation and psychometric properties of scales into different languages provides a better clinical outcome for patients using these scales on the maternal language.…”